Holy moly!
It’s been a week since my last post! I’m pretty sure I deserve 10 blogger spanks for that one!
Well, over the last while I have been working it; busy busy busy! I’ve walked miles through the city….from meeting to meeting, park dates, corner stores, chinatown and then some and you know what…all I have been wanting/thinking about is a bicycle.
One might say I have had the worst luck with bicycles. I have been hit by a car while riding, witnessed drunken brutes tear another apart; Prudence was stolen from me, Raven was vandalized, Olive was thrown in the garbage and Scarlet was frozen under a sheet of ice and buried by a dozen planks of wood that were supposed to be the makings of the homemade hottub that never came to be.
Perhaps me and bicycles were never meant to be in it for the long haul. Maybe I have cemented bad bike karma or something. I’ll admit, I’ve abandoned my past rides for weeks at a time, choosing 5 inch platforms and adding 20 minutes to my travel time over the quickness and convenience of my bike. And then there was that one time in Toronto, I was skipping down Queen St west with a belly full of bourbon when I saw the smallest mountain bike I have ever seen. It was white and rusty and we named it Bandit. At first I just wanted to see if I could even fit on it and then it turned into a 10 block joy ride followed by a series of mischievous bike tricks and taking it off some sweet jumps. The bike was never returned to where it was found and henceforth, my luck did not take a turn for the better.
I’m still on the lookout for my next great ride. I tend to like English 3-speeds of the ’50s through ’70s or the 10 speed dérailleur, with a bit of rust and a couple dents to deter the future bike thieves and troublemakers. If anyone knows of a bike for sale, shoot me an email.
As much as I love riding a good bike, I also love a good film with bike scenes. Here are my top 5:
One of my favorite Canadian-made movies e.v.e.r. Bike gangs, garbage picking and malakoff cocktails all in the familiar neighborhood of Parkdale in TO. Word.
2. Jules et Jim
The bike scene is like a picturesque vacation in France….sunny, musical, carefree and involves 2 men and an “impulsive” woman in a love triangle. J’taime.
3. B.I.K.E
Two filmmakers try to infiltrate the Black Label Bicycle Club.
I think most of this movie happens with someone on a bike. So beautiful and heartbreaking.
5. Rushmore
“You’re telling me he ran over your bicycle?”
“My former bicycle, yes.”
“What kind of person would do such a thing?”
“I’m not sure. Men do strange things in war.”
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